Carla Saulter has been living without a car—and using public transit as her primary form of transportation—since March of 2003. Though she gave up driving because of concerns about the detrimental effects of car culture (pollution, traffic, sprawl), the decision has profoundly and positively changed her life. Some of these positive changes include: enforced exercise, time to read, reduced expenses, and contact with her community on a level that would never have been possible in the isolated bubble of a single-occupancy vehicle.

Happiness is…

walking to the bus stop after a long day at work, on a sunny evening when the mountain is out and your schmipod is playing a song so good you don’t care who sees you groovin’ down the sidewalk. Happiness turns to pure bliss when you also happen to be on your way home to watch game three of the Eastern Conference semifinals. (Go Pistons!)